Google is partnering with Italian eyewear maker Luxottica, owner of the Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglass brands to design, develop and distribute new versions of Google Glass.
The move indicates signs of interest in Google Glass from the eyewear industry, even as consumers remain unsure of the merits of the device.
“Google has opened up a new potential opportunity of use of glasses,” said Andrea Guerra, Chief Executive of Luxottica, in an interview. Guerra added that his company and Google began working together last year.
The Luxottica deal follows Google’s January agreement with vision-care giant VSP Global to offer prescription lenses, subsidised frames and training for optometrists on how to properly fit the device.
With Luxottica’s help, Google hopes to use style to overcome consumer doubts about Glass.
Astro Teller, who oversees Glass among other projects at Google X, the company’s innovation lab, said it is a “very large hump” to convince people to wear computers on their face. “This is a fashion problem as much as it is a technology problem,” he said.
Luxottica’s declined to say when the fruits of their partnership with Google Glass will be unveiled or to offer details of what they might look like.
Guerra said Oakley and Ray-Ban designers, among others, have been working with Google designers to develop eyewear that will incorporate Glass technology without simply mounting Google’s device on top of Luxottica sunglasses, for instance.
The companies also didn’t disclose the financial terms of their agreement.
Luxottica’s extensive distribution and status as the market leader for eyewear in 2012 – with 12.4% share, according to Euromonitor International – can prove nothing but beneficial for Google’s device at this stage.
The Italian firm also owns LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut retail stores among others. Those outlets will offer Google Glass products through more than 5,000 US stores.
Analysts claim that announcing a deal with Luxottica long before there is a product should reassure developers that Glass is a serious consumer product.
Google is still discussing internally how much to charge for Glass, according to a spokesman. It also hasn’t finalised a release date for the consumer version, though the company hopes to do so later this year.
Check out what we thought of Google Glass when we tried on a pair at the Wearable Tech Show 2014.